Media Advisory: Virginia Tech students will deploy scientific weather balloons for NASA project during solar eclipse in Missouri
WHAT: A team of students from Virginia Tech will launch high altitude scientific weather balloons along the total solar eclipse path in Missouri as part of the National Eclipse Ballooning Project for NASA. The project, organized by NASA, will station 53 teams of students along the path of the eclipse, providing them with opportunities to capture data and conduct experiments.
BACKGROUND: Virginia Tech’s team of twenty, led by research associate Kevin Sterne, and Ph.D. candidate Ginny Smith, will be deploying high altitude scientific weather balloons to capture data and livestream video to NASA’s eclipse website. In addition to the payloads for the NASA project, the team will also be flying a second string of balloons with payloads carrying undergraduate student experiments. Read more about the National Eclipse Ballooning Project here.
WHEN: Media are invited to attend a public demonstration on Saturday, April 6, 2024, from 2-4 p.m. CDT
WHERE: Ray Clinton Park, 272 Park Ave., Poplar Bluff, MO 63901
WHO:
- Kevin Sterne, research associate, Virginia Tech National Security Institute
- Ginny Smith, Ph.D. Candidate, Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech
In-person media interviews: Sterne, Smith and Virginia Tech students will be available during the April 6 demonstration.
Media RSVP: Media should RSVP to Mike Allen at mike.allen@vt.edu by Thursday, April 4 at 5 p.m. EDT
FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES: The balloon launch will take place Monday, April 8, near Poplar Bluff at a location and time that will be determined after the public demonstration. Media interested in attending should contact Mike Allen at 540-400-1700 or mike.allen@vt.edu for further follow-up.
